Commentary
on Rule XII for Applicants
(All Bolding, Underlining and Highlighting
is by MDR)
Rule
12
Let the disciple learn the use of
the hand in service;
1.
The hand is one of the symbols of the
intelligence aspect of divinity. It is especially associated with the planet
Mercury which is a profoundly fifth ray planet. The five fingers of the hand
(four fingers and one thumb) represent the sub-monadic five of Mercury (the monadic ray of Mercury but not the major monadic ray).
2.
Service (giving so as to meet the need) is most
correlated with the second ray (though it naturally is expressed along all ray
lines).
3.
In this sentence, the third ray instrument (the
hand)—i.e., the instrument of intelligent manipulation—is to be put at the
disposal of the second ray.
4.
“Goodwill is love in action”. In acts of good
will, acts of service, the second and third rays are to be blended.
5.
When we study IHS closely, we see that even great
Beings such as Sanat Kumara or Buddhas of Activity have “hands” and in the
initiation ceremonies, They use Their hands in certain
symbolic yet occultly effective ways.
6.
The hand as the primary instrument of physical
action in the human being is to be rendered serviceable to a higher aspect of
divinity than the one it symbolizes; it is to serve the second aspect—love and
the heart.
7.
Hands can do many things. If we study the long
and bloody history of humanity, we shall be appalled at the things which hands
(lovelessly guided) have done. Now all that must change.
let him seek the mark
of the messenger in his feet,
8.
One does not propel oneself forward on his hands
(though there are those rare acrobatic individuals who can amuse us by doing
so).
9.
If we wish to ‘travel through space’ we need the
legs and their anchor on the physical plane, the feet.
10.
The ‘sign of the feet’ is Pisces. One thinks of
the psychology of Pisces individual, with their reputation for
‘ungroundedness’—i.e., for not having their “feet on the ground”. We see from
the symbolism that Pisces could
represent an attitude of great spiritual ‘groundedness’.
11.
Every organ of the body is to represent the soul,
be the agent of the soul. Although the soul is, in a way, omnipresent, the legs
and feet are needed to spread its influence in time and space, i.e., throughout
space and over time.
12.
Every disciple is ideally a “messenger of the
soul”. A messenger must travel “from here to there”. This reminds one of the
antahkaranic function of the third ray type: “He who
works upon the third ray must reach the path from here to there.” (R&I
507).
13.
The “messenger” (like Mercury in its major monadic expression) is upon the
third ray.
14.
Again the third ray is to represent the second
ray—the soul.
15.
What is the “mark of the messenger”? Can
we say it is the inner confirmation that one is truly a messenger carrying that
which is ‘high’ into the lower worlds?
16.
There may also be some “occult signature”
involved when the “mark of the messenger” is impressed upon the disciple.
Nature ever symbolizes in the most concrete manner, and various symbols and
signatures are found within the aura of the individual and group.
17.
We note that the disciple is to “seek” the “mark”.
This means that he does not yet possess it. In a way, it is the members of
Hierarchy Who are the true “Messengers”. They are Messengers of the Will of
God, Messengers of Shamballa.
18.
We may think of the second ray as rather static
or inert, but this would not be accurate. The following excerpt from the Old
Commentary demonstrates the manner in which the Lord of the Second Ray seeks to
bring life and vitality to all (unfortunately, at this time, in excess):
II. "The Great One poured His life throughout all parts
and every aspect of manifestation. From the centre to the periphery and
from the periphery to the centre He rushed, carrying abundance of life,
energising all forms of Himself, producing excess of movement, endless
extension, abundant growth and undue haste. He knew not what He wanted because He wanted
all, desired all, attracted all and gave to all too much." (EH 299)
and let him learn to see with the eye that looks out from
between the two.
19.
DK elaborates on this sentence below.
20.
We have the two hands, the two feet, the two eyes
and the single eye—seven in all. Or if we leave out the two eyes, we have the
five representing fivefold man, with the single eye representing the head.
21.
The hands and feet, rightly use, lead to the
creation of unity. The “eye that looks out from between the two” sees the unity
and ‘oversees’ the creation of unity in divided circumstances.
22.
Gradually the disciple learns to perceive wholeness. Thus, his intelligent actions
inspired by wise love can be most effective in replicating the inner wholeness
below.
This
rule looks easy of interpretation upon the first reading, and seems to enjoin
upon the applicant the use of the hands in service, of the feet upon
hierarchical errands, and the development of clairvoyance.
23.
This more superficial interpretation is true but
only to a point. We are to use the
hands in service. We are to go (on
foot, as it were) where our presence is required. And, as well, the inner,
clairvoyant sight is gradually to be developed and placed in the service of the
higher Ego.
But the real meaning is much more esoteric.
24.
As always, in occultism, the inner, the ready
interpretation suggests insufficient penetration.
Occultly understood, the "use of the
hands" is the utilisation of the chakras or centres) in the palms of the
hands
in:—
25.
We can see that DK was referring to the physical
hands in His first interpretation. The real instruction concerning the hands
deals with the etheric energy system.
a.
Healing bodily ills.
26.
When we study Esoteric
Healing we are given hierarchically-sanctioned methods for the use of the
hands in the healing process.
b. Blessing, and thus curing emotional ills.
27.
This is an amazing thought. Psychology in the
twentieth century has labored to understand how emotional ills could be cured.
So many theories have been advanced.
28.
But the simple expedient of “blessing” is given
as the essential method.
29.
It would seem that accompanying the etheric currents
from the chakras in the palms of the hands, other and necessary energies can be
transmitted to the emotional body. From what we learn in Esoteric Healing, it is probable that the energy of the heart can
be transmitted through the hands to the emotional body. In fact, the energy of any of the chakras can be directed via
the imagination through the chakras in the hands.
30.
The energy of love is foundational to the curing
of emotional ills.
31.
Emotional ills are based upon dissonant desires
and dissonant emotional tendencies. Friction and inharmony exists in the astral
nature and the internecine warfare of these energies produces pain and
continuing disunity.
32.
Blessing is an invocation of the soul of the one
blessed. It is a calling for the healing, ‘wholing’ energy of the soul to
descend into the emotional vehicle carrying the reconciling energy of buddhi.
33.
Blessing, in general, is an invocation of the
higher energies of the one blessed which, descending, can restore harmony.
34.
Blessing is the summoning of the archetype into
situations which do not yet reflect the archetype.
35.
Blessing summons those energies which indicate an
inner fulfillment which, in fact, already
exists and which is the answer to the frustrated desires which contribute to
emotional ills.
36.
Blessing brings the one blessed into the vivid
presence of beauty which reminds of the essential goodness and beauty of life.
It reveals dissonance and disunity as the product of illusory combinations of
energies.
37.
Blessing summons the substance of higher realization
and lifts the one blessed into a frequency domain above and beyond the emotional
torture he so frequently experiences.
38.
Through blessing, the one who blesses expresses
tangibly his solidarity in soul and Spirit (i.e., in love and oneness) with the
one blessed. The one blessed feels
that solidarity and experiences joy through unity with the blessing one.
39.
Ponder on the meaning of blessing. You will
arrive at your own conclusions and the exercise will be revelatory.
c.
Raised in prayer,
40.
To raise the hands in prayer is a mudra
reinforcing aspiration. It is an invocative gesture calling for the descent of
an energic-response to the energies upwardly released in invocation.
41.
When the hands are joined palm to palm, fingers
to fingers, an energy circuit is closed in such a way that energies can be
directed towards and ascending penetration into the higher worlds. The fingers,
after all, are pointing ‘upwards’. Were they pointing ‘downwards’ a very different
effect would be achieved!
42.
When building the antahkarana, the hands may be
placed in the position of prayer to assist with the projection of energy along
the bridge. The receptive attitude necessary to receive impression from the
response is also promoted by the mudra of prayer.
or the use of the centres of the hands during meditation in
the manipulation of mental matter and currents.
43.
When etheric, astral and etheric vision is more
common, this method of manipulating mental matter and currents will be more
effective.
44.
Even without the ability to ‘see’ with certainty
on the mental and other subtle planes, one may practice this manipulation kinesthetically. Imagination can be used
accompanied by the ‘feel’ of the presence of certain energies on certain
levels. It will be found that certain motions of the hands and imagined
activations of the centers in the hands will contribute to construction (or
destruction) upon the subtle planes. The power of the hands and the power of
imagination are combined. The intended inner work is thus strengthened and made
more certain.
These
three points will bear careful consideration, and much may be learnt by
occidental students from the study of the life of Christ, and a consideration
of His methods in using His hands. More
cannot be said here, as the subject is too vast to be enlarged upon in this brief commentary.
45.
We are asked to go through the New Testament and
search for the ways the Christ used His hands. The casual reader of the New
Testament will over look the occult significance of the Christ’s gestures.
46.
The Buddha, also, is depicted with his hands in
many different positions, all of which have occult significance. The Buddha’s
use of His hands was deliberately symbolic and, probably, ‘transmissive’.
The
"mark of the messenger" in the feet, is a reference to that well-known
symbol of the wings on the heels of Mercury.
47.
Mercury is not only associated with the hands and
thus with Gemini, but with the legs and feet as well—and thus with Sagittarius
and, to a degree, Pisces.
48.
The following reference is apt in relation to the
subject in hand:
He walks no longer in the dark, for he sees what he has to
do and he therefore makes rapid progress and travels "fast [Page 181] upon
the Way." He "flies from point to point, searching for the arrows
which he has discharged." He has, figuratively speaking, to dismount
constantly from his white horse (the developed and purified personality) and
find where the arrows of intuitional aspiration will take him; he travels upon the "wings of the
soul" (note the relationship to the winged feet of Mercury, the messenger
of the Gods) and becomes, in his own personality, himself the winged God:
Mercury, as you know, governs Gemini, the polar opposite of Sagittarius.
This he does until he has established a balanced relationship between the
personality and the soul and can function as either at any desired moment with
equal facility. (EA 180181)
Much upon this subject will be revealed to
students in occult schools who will gather together all that can be found
concerning the Messenger of the Gods, and who also will study with care
information which astrological [Page 207] students have gleaned anent the
planet Mercury, and which occult students have gathered concerning the inner
round.
49.
The first of these suggestions is more
manageable. We can understand how—through the imagination and in general
through the extension of consciousness—it is possible to travel on the “wings
of the soul”.
50.
There are many ways to ‘travel’ from place to
place. These methods involve the energy of Mercury and the siddhis associated
with Mercury.
51.
Mercury is essentially
a third ray planet and, as such, contributes to the achievement of
Omnipresence.
52.
Eventually Mercury gives way to Jupiter and it
becomes possible to feel oneself extended through
space with no need to go anywhere.
53.
As for the inner round, it is often associated
with Mercury, but in ways which are not easy for us to understand.
54.
Appended at the end of this commentary is a
compilation on the Inner Round provided by a student who has made a great
number of useful compilations. Gratitude to him!
On
the surface, the expression "the eye which looks out from between the two”
seems to signify the third eye, which clairvoyants utilise, but the meaning is
very much deeper than that, and lies hidden in the following facts:—
55.
The functional development of the third eye is
achieved at the third initiation.
56.
The triangle between the crown, ajna and alta major center must be in circulation to a required
degree before that capacity known as the “third eye” can emerge.
57.
I will also append a compilation on various kinds
of eyes, including the “Third Eye”
and the “Eye of the Soul” so that this essential subject may be more carefully
studied.
58.
We are looking for the meaning of the “eye which
looks out from between the two” and the following facts will help us appreciate
that meaning.
a.
That the inner vision is that which
all self-conscious beings, from a Logos to a man, are in the process of
developing.
59.
The inner vision discloses the wholeness of the
whole, beyond the illusion induced by the interplay of the pairs of opposites.
60.
It may be useful to note that the second method
of inducing soul control, naturally correlated to the second ray, is “The
Quality of the Hidden Vision”.
b.
That the Ego, or Higher Self, is
literally to the Monad what the third eye is to man, and therefore is
described as looking out from between the Monad or spiritual self on the one
hand, and the personal self on the other.
61.
Note how the Monad is described—as the “spiritual
self”. We might think of the Monad as the Spirit; the Spirit is the Self. The
Monad is the ‘Spirit-Self’ here described as the “spiritual self”.
62.
The Self as it expresses through the spiritual
triad can also be called the
“spiritual self”, but the real identity behind Self-as-Spiritual-Triad is the
Monad.
63.
We are given a very occult statement: “the Ego…is
literally to the Monad what the third eye is to man”.
64.
We should combine this statement with another
which has a similar ring: “The Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third
eye is to man, esoterically understood.” (DINA II 310)
65.
Here we have two ‘elevated’ “third eyes”. One
looks out from between the Monad and the personal self. The other looks out
from between the Planetary Logos and the soul infused personality.
66.
If the third eye confers a comprehensive, unified
vision on man, a vision of what the ‘soul sees’, then the Ego (both as
consciousness within the egoic lotus and consciousness within the spiritual
triad) confers upon the Monad a unified vision of still higher worlds (the
first sub-plane of the higher mental plane, the buddhic and atmic planes) over
which the Monad ‘hovers’. These “eyes” act as extensions into worlds lower than
the familiar habitat of the Entity who possesses the eyes.
67.
This aspect of the Rule seems to enjoin the disciple
to see not only as the soul sees (through the third eye), but as the Monad
‘sees’ through the Ego considering the Ego as an eye.
68.
If we were able to ‘ascend’ into the sphere of
the Monad (our true Self), we would see somewhat as the Planetary Logos ‘sees’,
for to Him the Monad is as an eye.
In
the fullest sense, therefore, this rule incites
the applicant to develop self-consciousness, and thus learn to function in the
causal body on the higher levels of the mental plane, controlling from thence
all the lower vehicles and seeing clearly all that can be seen in the three
worlds, in the past and in the future.
.
69.
Master DK lays it out for us. Throughout Letters on Occult Meditation we are
enjoined to develop causal consciousness, and at the same time told how
difficult it is to do, and how infrequently it is, as yet, accomplished by the
modern disciple.
70.
Real “self consciousness” is not consciousness
within the personality at all. A truer and higher Self is the Ego within the
causal body. The Ego also exists ‘without’ the causal body; that Ego is the
spiritual triad.
71.
To develop consciousness on the higher mental
plane is not sufficient. From that
72.
We are told that the Solar Angel can see the
recent incarnations of the human being and also somewhat into the future. From
a vantage point within the causal body, this same type of extended vision can
be achieved by the human soul.
73.
We can see that the demands of Rule XII for
Applicants are extensive and that one would have to be an initiate of the third
degree to fulfill them.
74.
Close study of the Fourteen Rules for Applicants
should confirm that they are not simply of a preliminary nature suited for
untrained aspirants. They do, indeed, take us to the portal of the third
degree.
Inner round
CF 1164) These centres, with no dense physical globe, constitute what has sometimes been called "the inner round" and transmit their force through those greater centres which have been spoken of in occult books as having a connection with the inner round.
(CF 744) Between Two Solar Systems. This covers the period of one hundred years of Brahma, and through the study of the planetary cycles comprehension of these greater cycles may come. Complication comes to the student nevertheless in the fact that two of the schemes cover their cyclic periods in five rounds, while others have seven; one scheme has but three rounds, but a mystery is hidden here: on the inner round one planet has nine cycles to run before the purpose of its Lord is completed.
(IHS:129) The Rod of Initiation
known as the "Flaming Diamond," is used by Sanat Kumara, the One
Initiator. This Rod lies hidden "in
the East," and holds the fire hidden that irradiates the Wisdom
Religion. This Rod was brought by the Lord of the World from Venus,
and once in every world period it is subjected to a similar process to that of
the lesser Rod, only this time it is recharged by the direct action of the
Logos Himself, the Logos of the solar system.
The exact location of this Rod is known only to the Lord of the World
and to the Chohans of the rays, and being the talisman of this evolution the
Chohan of the second ray is—under the Lord of the World—its prime guardian,
aided by the deva Lord of the second
plane. The Buddhas of Activity
are responsible for its custody, and under Them the
Chohan of the ray. It is produced only
at stated times, when specific work has to be done. It is used not only at the initiating of men,
but at certain planetary functions of which nothing is at present known. It has its place and function in certain ceremonies connected with the inner round, and
the triangle formed by the Earth,
Mars, and Mercury.
(IHS 207) The "mark of the messenger" in the feet,
is a reference to that well-known symbol of the wings on the heels of
Mercury. Much upon this subject will be
revealed to students in occult schools who will gather together all that can be
found concerning the Messenger of the Gods, and who also will study with care
information which astrological [Page 207] students have gleaned anent the planet Mercury, and which occult
students have gathered concerning the
inner round.
(CF 299) Three of
the sacred planets, it should be remembered, are the home of the three
major Rays, of the embodied forms of the three logoic aspects or
principles. Other planets are embodiments of the four minor rays. We might consider—from the standpoint of the
present—that Venus, Jupiter and Saturn might be considered as the vehicles of
the three super-principles at this time.
Mercury, the Earth and Mars are closely allied to these three, but a
hidden mystery lies here. The evolution of the inner round has a close connection
with this problem. Perhaps some light
may be thrown upon the obscurity of the matter by the realisation that just as
the Logos has (in the non-sacred
planets) the correspondence to the permanent atoms in the human being,
so the middle evolution between these two (God and man) is the Heavenly Man,
whose body is made up of human and deva monads, and Who has likewise His
permanent atoms. Always the three higher
principles can be distinguished in importance from the four lower.
(CF 777) These three activities are the main work of the solar Pitris where man is concerned. Where the group, and not the individual, is concerned, their work lies along the line of adjusting the egoic units in their groups, and of making them group conscious, but this is only possible towards the final stages of evolution when the work of the highest group of Agnishvattas is in order. The middle group who form the nine petals are always the most active. They work in connection with the lower group who are the direct transmitters of energy to the atomic triangle, receiving it from the middle group. More of their work it is not possible to detail, for the work of the Agnishvattas is vast and intricate, and differs also in the various schemes in certain particulars. Those who are working in the Uranus, the Neptune, and the Saturn scheme work somewhat differently to those functioning in the Venus, the Vulcan, the Mars, the Mercury, the Jupiter, the Earth and the exoteric Saturn scheme, and so do the Manasadevas of the inner round. We should note here that we again have a triplicity of groups, representing a triplicity of force, and herein lies a hint. In the central list of schemes the middle and lower group of Agnishvattas are active. In the others the higher group and middle group hold sway as these planets are the most occult and sacred in manifestation, and are concerned only with egos who are on the Path, and who are therefore group-active. In connection with Uranus, Neptune and Saturn, this might be expected as they are the synthesising planetary schemes, and provide conditions suitable only for the very advanced stages. They are the "reaping" planets.
(CF 793) The three major planetary schemes (Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn) have not, as yet, received their fullest stimulation, and will not do so until the "energy of the sacred seven" has been transferred to Them. Figures, therefore, as regards their duration and persistence are not in order.
The figures for the planets concerned with the "inner round" differ as to length of time but not as to space location from those of other planets.
(CF 825) For advanced man at this time these incarnations took place upon the moon chain and in some cases upon certain planets connected with the inner round. This is the circumstance which necessitated his "coming-in" during the Atlantean root-race. Men of this type refused to incarnate earlier, as the bodies were too coarse; this was the cyclic reflection (on the lowest plane) of the refusal of the Monads to incarnate at the dawn of manvantaric opportunity.
(CF 851) The "coming-in" of advanced Egos from the inner round, or from other planetary schemes, or from subtler spheres where they have been in pralaya awaiting opportunity is produced in a triple manner and is the result of a triple activity. It is caused by an understanding between the planetary Logos of a scheme, and a brother planetary Logos whereby an exchange is effected. The student must here think in terms of force and energy, of magnetic interaction and the conscious transmission of energy out of the body of the planetary Logos, via centres or a centre, into the body of another planetary Logos. The cause here is the will or purpose, the object is sensation, and the method is force transference. Exactly the same understanding lies back of the coming in of egos from the inner round, only this time the energy is sent forth by certain existences (working in connection with any planetary Logos) who are the "custodians of the inner circle." This touches upon a mystery and deals with the coming-in of high Egos, of Avatars, of Buddhas, [Page 852] of masters, of initiates, and of disciples, and of all who have to wait for group, and not individual, urge for the fulfillment of cyclic karma on a large scale, and whose "wheels" are controlled by cosmic forces and not by purely systemic forces.
(CF 1164) These centres,
with no dense physical globe, constitute what has sometimes been called
"the inner round"
and transmit their force through those greater centres which have been spoken
of in occult books as having a connection
with the inner round.
(CF 1175) It is not possible at this stage to convey to
students the information as to the nature of each planetary school. They
exist in five great groups:
1. The exoteric non-sacred planets, called in occult parlance "the outer round" or outer circle of initiates. Of these our earth is one, but being aligned in a peculiar fashion with certain spheres on the inner round, a dual opportunity exists for mankind, which facilitates, whilst it complicates, the evolutionary process.
2. The sacred planets, called sometimes (when this Law of the Schools is under consideration) the "seven grades of psychic knowledge" or the "seven divisions of the field of knowledge."
3. The inner round, which carries with it vast opportunity for those who can surmount its problems and withstand its temptations. This inner round has a peculiar appeal to units on certain Rays, and has its own specific dangers. The inner round is the round that is followed by those who have passed through the human stage and have consciously developed the faculty of etheric living and can follow the etheric cycles, functioning consciously on the three higher etheric planes in all parts of the system. They have—for certain occult and specific purposes—broken the connection between the third etheric and the four lower subplanes of the physical plane. This [Page 1176] round is followed only by a prepared percentage of humanity, and is closely associated with a group who pass with facility and develop with equal facility on the three planets that make a triangle with the earth, namely Mars, Mercury, and Earth. These three planets—in connection with this inner round—are considered only as existing in etheric matter, and (in relation to one of the Heavenly Men) hold a place analogous to the etheric triangle found in the human etheric body. I have here conveyed more than has as yet been exoterically communicated anent this inner round and by the study of the human etheric triangle, its function, and the type of force which circulates around it, much may be deduced about the planetary inner round. We must bear in mind in this connection that just as the human etheric triangle is but the preparatory stage to a vast circulation within the sphere of the entire etheric body, so the etheric planetary triangle—passing from the Earth to Mars and Mercury—is but the preparatory circulatory system to a vaster round included within the sphere of influence of one planetary Lord.
(CF 1278) Seek ye the same on lesser scale within the inner round and on the plane of density see the lesser primary manifest. The law holds good; the mystery dissolves in TIME.
Eye of the soul Compilation
And
Third eye and Spiritual eye
and
Eye of Shiva
The third
eye,
not the pineal gland but its etheric correspondence. This is the
responsive mechanism to the directing eye of the soul. (DINA II 290)
2.
The eye of the
soul,
bringing revelation of the nature of the interior worlds, of the
Man
is now learning to use the eye
of the soul, and as he does so he brings its correspondence in the head
also into functioning activity; this produces fusion and identification, and
brings the pineal gland into action. The major result, however, is to enable
the disciple to become aware, whilst in the physical body, of a new range of
contacts and perceptions. This marks a crisis in his unfoldment of as drastic
and important a nature as the attaining of physical sight and the use of the
physical eye was in the unfoldment of the curious creature which antedated the
most primitive animal man. Things unknown can now be sensed, searched for and
finally seen; a new world of being stands apparent, which has always been
present though never before known; the life, nature, quality and the phenomena of
the kingdom of souls, or of the Hierarchy, become as patent to his vision and
as real as is the world of the five physical senses. (DINA II 292)
Later,
man uses the “eye
of the soul,” as we have noted above; it reveals to him a world of
subtler phenomena, the
2.
Then reflect quietly upon the directive power of the soul:
a.
Working within the symbolic “diadem of attainment.”
b.
Using the impelling “eye
of the soul” as a directing agent; i.e., the ajna centre, or the centre
between the eyebrows. (DINA II 478)
In
studying these results of meditation in the psychic realm, it should be borne
in mind that the eight means of yoga do produce definite effects in the lower
nature and that this causes certain unfoldments and experiences to take place;
these put the aspirant more consciously en rapport with the interior planes in
the three worlds. This is a safe and
necessary process provided it is the outcome of the awakening of the man on his
own plane, and the turning of the eye
of the soul, via the mind and the third eye, upon these planes. The presence of the lower psychic power may,
however, mean that the soul is (from the physical plane standpoint) asleep and
unable to use its instrument, and that these
experiences are therefore only the result of the activity of the solar plexus
producing awareness of the astral plane.
This type of psychism is a reversion to the animal state and to the
child stage of the human race. It is
undesirable and dangerous. (LOS 258)
Revelation
is a generic term covering all the responses to the activities of the eye of
the mind, the eye
of the soul, and the “insight” of the Universal Mind which contact with
the Monad gives. Sight is the greatest of all the developments in this world
period in which the Logos is seeking to bring the subhuman kingdoms to the
point where human vision is theirs,
to bring humanity to the point where spiritual
vision is developed and hierarchical insight is the normal quality of the
initiate sight, and to bring the Members of the Hierarchy to the point where
universal perception is Theirs. (DINA II 56)
The
third or spiritual
eye
has several functions. Amongst others,
it is the organ of illumination, the unveiled eye of the soul, through which light and illumination
comes into the mind, and thus the entire lower life becomes irradiated. It is also the organ through which pours the
directing energy [Page 975] which streams out from the conscious creating adept
to the instruments of service, his thought-forms. (TCF 974-975)
The
reflection is that with which we are familiar; the appearance, or that which
veils the reality, is contacted and known when we see with the eye of the soul, the Eye of Shiva, and the true
colour14 is contacted after the fifth kingdom has been passed through, and
group consciousness is merging in that of the divine. Students will, therefore, note that the
monadic cosmic wheel can be [Page 1092] visioned in terms of “true colour,” and
is seen by the illumined seer as the combined blending of the primary colours
of the three solar systems. (TCF 1091-1092)
The
soul is light essentially, both literally from the vibratory angle, and philosophically from the angle of
constituting the true medium of knowledge.
The soul is light symbolically,
for it is like the rays of the sun, which pour out into the darkness; the soul,
through the medium of the brain, causes revelation. It throws its light into the brain, and thus
the way of the human being becomes increasingly illumined. The brain is like the eye of the soul, looking out
into the physical world; in the same sense the soul is the eye of the Monad,
and in a curious and occult sense, the fourth kingdom in nature constitutes on
our planet the eye of the planetary Deity. (EP I 132)
It
might be of interest to you to correlate what I have said in my other writing
anent the eyes with the point made above.
As you well know, and as stated in The Secret Doctrine, the right eye is
the “eye of buddhi” and the left eye is the “eye of manas”—this (when in
relation to buddhi) referring to the higher mind and to man as he finally will
appear. In the average human being, and
before reaching perfection, the right eye transmits the energy of the astral
body when directed consciously towards an object of attention, and the left eye
directs the energy of the lower mind. In between these two directing eyes is to
be found the ajna centre, which is like a third eye or directing agent for the blended and
fused energies of the personality; related to this third eye as it awakens and comes into
functioning activity is what we call “the eye of the soul”; this is a point within the highest
head centre. This eye of the soul can and does
transmit energy to the ajna centre and is itself the agent (before the fourth
initiation) of the energy of the Spiritual Triad. This esoteric relationship is
only set up when the soul is dominating its instrument, the personality, and is
bringing all the lower activities upon the physical plane under soul direction.
In
the perfected man, there is to be found, therefore, the following distributors
or distributing agents of energy:
1.
The eye of the
soul agent of the Spiritual Triad Will.
2.
The third eye agent of the soul Love.
3.
The right eye distributor of
buddhic energy.
4.
The left eye conveyor of pure
manasic energy.
5.
The ajna centre focussing and
directing point for all these energies. (EH 571)
Eyes
of Three Kinds:
In
the perfected man, there is to be found, therefore, the following distributors
or distributing agents of energy:
1.
The eye of the
soul agent of the Spiritual Triad Will.
2.
The third eye agent of the soul Love.
3.
The right eye distributor of buddhic
energy.
4.
The left eye conveyor of pure
manasic energy.
5.
The ajna centre focussing and
directing point for all these energies.
[Page
572]
In
the disciple and the man who is beginning to function as a soul, you will have:
1.
The third eye distributor of soul energy.
2.
The right eye agent for astral
energy.
3.
The left eye agent for lower
mental energy.
4.
The ajna centre focussing point of
these three energies.
In
the average man, the situation will be as follows:
1.
The right eye agent for astral
energy.
2.
The left eye agent for mental
energy.
3.
The ajna centre distributing station.
(EH 571-572)
The
third eye referred to
here is that of the healer and not that of the average patient; this the healer
uses in conjunction with the eye
of the soul. In the case of the
healing of a very advanced person who is consciously able to cooperate, the third eye of the
patient can also be active, and by this means two very potent streams of
directed energy can penetrate into the area where the point of friction is
located. In ordinary cases, however, and
where no occult knowledge is present on the part of the patient, the healer
does all the work, and this is desirable.
The cooperation of the unskilled and those emotionally involved in their
trouble is of no true assistance. (EH 575)
One
simple rule towards comprehension and attainment ever holds good. The Great Renunciation becomes possible only
when the practice of the little renunciations governs the life of a disciple
and a group. The renouncing of ambition,
of all personality ties, and the renunciation of all that hinders progress as
it is revealed to the eye
of the soul, lays a sound foundation for the final great transference,
based upon the renunciation of that which for aeons has connoted beauty, truth
and goodness, and which has seemed the ultimate goal of all aspirational
effort. The endeavour to see that which
lies ahead and beyond the apparent finality of soul fusion faces disciples,
among them some of you, at this time; and that all of you may penetrate beyond
the veil of the soul and eventually see that veil “rent from the top to the
bottom,” and thus be enabled to say with those of like degree “It is finished”
is my earnest hope. Then will open for
you as for others, the Way of the [Page 225] Higher Evolution, and the glory of
the Lord will be seen in a new light—a light which will dim and throw into the
shade all previous goals and visions. (R&I 224-225)
The
Third eye:
This
is the eye of Shiva, for it is
only fully utilized in the magical work when the monadic aspect, the will
aspect, is controlling.
By
means of the third
eye
the soul accomplishes three activities:
1.
It is the eye of vision. By its means,
the spiritual man sees behind the forms of all aspects of divine expression. He becomes aware of the light of the world,
and contacts the soul within all forms.
Just as the physical eye registers forms, so does the spiritual eye register the
illumination within those forms which “illumination” indicates a specific state
of being. It opens up the world of
radiance.
2.
It is the controlling factor of the magical work. All white magical work is carried forward
with a definitely constructive purpose, made possible through the use of the
intelligent will. In other words, the
soul knows the [Page 214] plan, and when the alignment is right and the
attitude correct, the will aspect of the divine man can function and bring
about results in the three worlds. The
organ used is the third
eye. The analogy to this can be seen in the often
noticed power of the human eye as it controls other human beings and animals by
a look, and through steady gazing can act
magnetically. Force flows through the
focused human eye. Force flows through
the focused third
eye.
3.
It has a destructive aspect and the energy flowing through the third eye can have a
disintegrating and destroying effect. It
can, through its focused attention, directed by the intelligent will, drive out
physical matter. It is the agent of the
soul in the purificatory work. (TWM 231)
Spiritual eye
2.
As a result of focussed thinking "in the heart" the spiritual eye opens and
becomes the directing agent, employed consciously by the initiate whilst doing
his work under the Law of Sacrifice. (DINA II 289)
As
the disciple and the initiate progress from stage to [Page 294] stage of
revelation, it becomes increasingly difficult to make clear not only what is
revealed, but also the processes of revelation, and
the methods used to bring the stage of revelation about. The vast mass of
mankind throughout the world have no clear idea as to the function of the mind
as an organ of vision illumined by the soul; still fewer, only the disciples
and initiates, are able to glimpse the purpose of the spiritual eye and its
functioning in the light of the intuition. When we come, therefore, to the
great organ of universal revelation, the monadic principle, functioning through
the medium of an extra-planetary light, we enter realms which are indefinable
and for which no terminology has been created, and which only initiates above
the third degree are able to consider. (DINA II 293-294)
Energy
follows thought and the eye directs that energy. This has been
an occult platitude ever since the days of H.P.B., during whose time it was
decided that this was the first of the points of revelation which could safely
be given to the general public. The assertion of this revealed fact was an
essential piece of knowledge in the world, prior to the externalisation of the
Ashrams—or, my brother, of the Hierarchy. The thought that all is energy has
already been accepted by modern science, and the concept of vision (the first
step towards understanding the use of the spiritual eye) is already part of the teaching of
modern philosophy and of many of the metaphysical schools. (DINA II 309)
13.
To the inner spiritual
eye
the Gods are no more abstractions than our soul and body are
to us.—S. D., I, 694. (Note, TCF 965)
The
third or spiritual
eye
has several functions. Amongst others,
it is the organ of illumination, the unveiled eye of the soul, through which
light and illumination comes into the mind, and thus the entire lower life
becomes irradiated. It is also the organ
through which pours the directing energy [Page 975] which streams out from the
conscious creating adept to the instruments of service, his thought-forms. (TCF
974-975)
Just
as the physical eye came into being in response to the light of the sun so the spiritual eye equally comes
into being in response to the light of the spiritual sun. As the aspirant develops he becomes aware of
the light. I refer to the light in all
forms, veiled by all sheaths and expressions of the divine life, and not just
to the light within the aspirant himself.
As his awareness of this light increases so does the apparatus of vision
develop, and the mechanism whereby he can see things in the spiritual light
comes into being in the etheric body. (TCF 213)
The seeing of
the light within all forms through the agency of the third
eye (brought into
being through the realization of the light in the head, the spiritual light) is
[Page 215] but the correspondence to the physical eye, revealing forms in the
light of the physical sun. This
corresponds to the personality.
The aspect of
control through magnetic energy and the attractive force in the spiritual
eye, which is the
dominant factor in magical work, is the correspondence to the soul. In a most mysterious sense, the soul is the
eye of the monad, enabling the monad, which is pure Being, to work, to contact,
to know, and to see. It is the eye of vision.
By its means, the spiritual man sees behind the forms of all aspects of
divine expression. He becomes aware of
the light of the world, and contacts the soul within all forms. Just as the physical eye registers forms, so
does the spiritual
eye
register the illumination within those forms which "illumination"
indicates a specific state of being. It
opens up the world of radiance.
The
aspect of destruction is the correspondence to the monad or will aspect; in the
last analysis it is the monad that brings about the final abstraction, destroys
all forms, withdraws itself from manifestation and ends the cycle of creative
work. (TWM 214-215)
The
elemental of the astral or body of water undergoes a similar activity plus a
stabilising effect which brings to an end the restlessness and fluidic
tempestuousness which have hitherto characterised it. Through the controlling magnetic power of the
spiritual eye, the soul
[Page 216] rebuilds the astral body and holds it steady and coherent through
its focused attention. (TWM 215-216)
Eye of Shiva
As
he passes from one stage of "seeded" meditation to another, he ever
approaches nearer to the seat of all knowledge, and will eventually contact
that upon which [Page 101] he is meditating.
Then the nature of the thinker himself, as pure spirit, will be
apprehended, and the steps, stages, objects, seeds, organs, forms (subtle or
gross) will all be lost sight of and only spirit be known. Both feeling and mind will then be
transcended and only God Himself be seen; the lower vibrations will no longer
be sensed; colour will no longer be seen; only light will be known; vision will
be lost sight of, and the sound or word will alone be heard. The "eye of Shiva" will be left and with that the
seer will identify himself. (Law of Synthesis 100-101)
The
eye is one of the most potent transmitters of energy, and it was the knowledge
of this in the olden days which gave rise to the belief anent the evil
eye. There is much to be discovered
concerning sight for this study will include not only physical vision, but the
development of the third
eye,
clairvoyance, perfect spiritual vision and on up to that inconceivable mystery
covered by the terms the "All-seeing Eye" and the "Eye of Shiva." (Law
of Synthesis 354)
The
secret of life lies hidden in the serpent stage,—not the life of the Spirit,
but the life of the soul, and this will be revealed as the "serpent of the
astral light" is truly approached, and duly studied. One of the four Lipika Lords, Who stand
nearest to our planetary Logos, is called "The Living Serpent," and
His emblem is a serpent of blue with one eye, in the form of a ruby, in its
head. Students who care to carry the
symbology a little further can connect this idea with the "eye of Shiva" which
sees and knows all, and records all, as [Page 894] does the human eye in lesser
degree; all is photographed upon the astral light, as the human eye receives
impressions upon the retina. The same
thought is frequently conveyed in the Christian Bible, in the Hebrew and
Christian recognition of the all-seeing eye of God. The application and value of the hints here
given may be apparent if the subject of the third eye is studied, and its relation to the
spine, and the spinal currents investigated.
This third
eye
is one of the objects of kundalinic vivification, and in the spinal territory
there is first the centre at the base of the spine, the home of the sleeping
fire. Next we have the triple channel
along which that fire will travel in due course of evolution, and finally we
find at the summit of the column, and surmounting all, that small organ called
the pineal gland, which when vivified causes the third eye to open, and the beauties of the
higher, subtler planes to stand revealed.
All this physico-psychical occurrence is
possible to man owing to certain events which happened to the Heavenly Serpent
in the second, or serpent, round. These
happenings necessitated the formation and evolution of that peculiar and
mysterious family we call the reptilian.
These forms of divine life are very intimately connected with the second
planetary scheme, being responsive to energy emanating from that scheme, and
reaching the earth via the second globe in the second chain. A group of special devas (connected with a
particular open sound in the
planetary Word), work with the reptile evolution. (TCF 893-894)
b.
Five Rules for the Astral Plane. Before
we take up the consideration of the second set of "Rules for Magic,"
I would like to make a few remarks anent the "eye of the Magician,"
to which reference has been earlier made.
One of the fundamental rules back of all magical processes is that no
man is a magician or worker in white magic until the third eye is opened, or
in process of opening, for it is by means of that eye that the thought form is
energised, directed and controlled and the lesser builders or forces are swept
into any particular line of activity.
Among the coming discoveries, and among the next revelations of
materialistic science will be one which will concern itself with the
force-directing faculty of the human eye, alone or collectively, and this will
indicate one of the first stages towards the rediscovery of the third eye, or the
"Eye of Shiva." Shiva is, as we know, one of the names for
the first great logoic aspect, and under that name is hidden much of esoteric
moment. Shiva stands for:
a. The Will aspect,
b.
The Spirit aspect,
c.
The Father in Heaven,
d.
The directing purpose,
e.
Conscious energy,
f.
Dynamic intent,
[Page
1009]
and in the consideration of these phrases the innate faculties
of the third eye will become
apparent. (TCF 1008-1009)
The
"Eye of Shiva" in the
human being has its position, as is already known, in the centre of the
forehead between the two physical eyes.3
It
is not to be confounded with the pineal gland, which is distinctly a physical
centre or gland. The third eye exists in
etheric matter, and is an etheric centre of force, being made of the substance
of the ethers, whereas the pineal gland is formed of matter of the three lower
subplanes of the physical plane. The
latter, nevertheless, has to be functioning more or less before the "Eye of Shiva" becomes
in any degree active, and it is this fact that has led writers of occult books
in the past purposely to confound the two, in order to protect the knowledge.
(TCF 1009)
Second,
through the co-ordinated activity of the major head centre, the many petalled lotus above the top of the head. This centre directly affects the pineal
gland, and the interplay of force behind the two (the correspondence, on a tiny
scale, of the pairs of opposites, spirit and matter), produces the great organ
of consciousness, the "Eye
of Shiva." It is the
instrument of wisdom, and in these three centres of energy we have the
correspondence of the three aspects within the head of man.
1.
Major head centre...Will Aspect....Spirit...Father in
Heaven
2.
Pineal gland Love-Wisdom
aspect...Consciousness...Son
3.
Third eye. Activity aspect Matter...Mother (TCF 1010)
The
"Eye of Shiva," when
perfected, is blue in colour, and as our solar Logos is the "Blue
Logos" so do His children occultly resemble Him; but this colour must be
interpreted esoterically. It must be
remembered also that prior to the final two Initiations (the sixth and
seventh), the eye of the white magician, when developed, will be coloured
according to the man's ray—again esoterically understood. More anent this question of colour may not be
communicated. According to the colour, so will be the type of energy manipulated, but here
it must be borne in mind that all magicians work with three types of energy:
a.
That which is the same as their own Ray,
b.
That which is complementary to their own type of force,
c.
Their polar opposite,
and they work, therefore, either along the line of least
resistance, or through attraction, and repulsion. (TCF 1011)
The
reflection is that with which we are familiar; the appearance, or that which
veils the reality, is contacted and known when we see with the eye of the soul,
the Eye of Shiva, and the true
colour14 is contacted after the fifth kingdom has been passed through, and
group consciousness is merging in that of the divine. Students will, therefore, note that the
monadic cosmic wheel can be [Page 1092] visioned in terms of "true
colour," and is seen by the illumined seer as the combined blending of the
primary colours of the three solar systems. (TCF 1091-1092)
The
eye of Shiva opens wide
and those within its range of vision awaken to another form of sleep. They sleep, but yet they see and hear; their
eyes are closed, yet naught that passes in the greater cosmic Seven is missed
by them. They see, and yet they vision
not; they hear and yet their ears are deaf.
Three
times the eye
of Shiva closes and three times it opens wide. Thus three great groups of Lotus Lords are
impelled upon Their way. (TCF 1272)
This
latter aspect of the eye
of Shiva directs the other two, and gathers all its energy from a
far distant cosmic sphere. The two
respond, and in the treading of the cosmic WAY weave triple force into that
path which meets the need of those who later seek to tread it. (TCF 1273)
3.
The eye of Shiva—the
all-seeing eye, the eye which directs the will and purposes of Deity.
These
three are, in reality,
1.
The eye of the Father—carrying light from the Great Bear.
2.
The eye of the Son—carrying light from Sirius.
3.
The eye of the Mother—carrying light from the Pleiades.
and it is this latter "light energy" which is
necessarily peculiarity active when the sign of Taurus is dominant in any
planetary and individual horoscope. (EA 430)
As
the aspirant develops he becomes aware of the light. I refer to the light in all forms, veiled by
all sheaths and expressions of the divine life, and not just to the light
within the aspirant himself. As his
awareness of this light increases so does the apparatus of vision develop, and
the mechanism whereby he can see things in the spiritual light comes into being
in the etheric body.
This
is the eye of Shiva, for it is
only fully utilized in the magical work when the monadic aspect, the will
aspect, is controlling. (TWM 213)
The
Third eye
As
the intellect develops and the power to focus upon the mental plane grows, the
fact of the soul's existence becomes known and the goal of attention changes.
There follows the ability to focus in the soul consciousness and so to fuse the
soul and the mind that an at-one-ment takes place and a man can then begin to
think "in his heart." Then also the "eye of the soul" opens
and energy from soul levels, intelligently utilised, becomes directed from
those levels and pours into what is now [Page 290] ambiguously called "the
third eye."
Immediately the personality in the three worlds begins to express itself as the
soul upon the physical plane, and will, purpose and love begin to control.
(DINA II 289-290)
The third eye,
not the pineal gland but its etheric correspondence.
This is the responsive mechanism to the directing eye of the soul. (DINA II
290)
Let me now expand the concept further,
reminding you of the phrase so oft employed, "the All-seeing Eye."
This refers to the power of the planetary Logos to see into all parts, aspects
and phases (in time and space) of His planetary vehicle, which is His physical
body and to identify Himself with all the reactions and sensitivities of His
created world and to participate with full knowledge in all events and
happenings. Through what medium does He, on His own high levels, do this?
Through what mechanism does He thus "see"? What is His organ of
vision? What is the nature of the sight whereby He contacts the seven planes of
His manifested universe? What is the organ, employed by Him, which corresponds
to the third eye
in man? The answer is as follows: the Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third eye
is to man; this will become clearer to you if you will bear in mind that our
seven planes are only the seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane. The monadic world—so-called—is His organ of
vision; it is also His directing agent for the life and light which must be
poured into the phenomenal world. In the same way, the Monad is to the
personality in the three worlds, also the source of its life and light. (DINA
II 291)
3.
The Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third eye is to man, esoterically understood. This is a most abstruse statement for all of you
and will require much concentrated reflection and serene meditation. The vision
of the solar Logos and of the planetary Logos is closely related to intention
and purpose, and is the cause of the Plan. It is, however, beyond and different
to the Plan. I leave this thought for your consideration and meditation, but
can assure you that you will come to no easy or early comprehension.
Later
on, as the years slip away and as students come and go, a clearer grasp of the
techniques of comprehension—these emerging Points of Revelation—will form
themes for prolonged meditation and doors of entrance to the new occultism. The
foundations for this new occultism are well and soundly laid; the superstructure
can be erected now, slowly and with due care, in conformity with the divine
blueprints and in response to a sensitive reaction to spiritual impression.
(DINA II 310)
A
consideration of the three points of revelation already given may show you how
deep may be the present mystery where each of these points is concerned. The
mystery of the eye and its relation to light (esoterically understood) is very
great, and as yet no student, no matter how diligent, knows anything about it.
For instance, brother of mine, when the [Page 349] third eye, the inner eye, and the Monad are
brought into direct alignment with "the Eye of God Himself," so that
what the planetary Logos sees can be partially (at least) revealed to the
initiate, who can tell what that revelation will bring of results and
enlightenment? When the true nature of the will is comprehended and the
self-will of the personality (of a very high order, necessarily), the will of
the soul (as demonstrated by the activity of the highest tier or circle of the
egoic petals), atma, expressing itself as the spiritual will, and Sanat Kumara
are also brought, through initiation, into direct alignment, who, again, can
predict what the revelation will be? When, again (as hinted on page 313), the
myriad thoughtforms of the concrete or lower mind are seen as illusion, and the
lower mind, the knowledge petals of the egoic lotus, the abstract mind and
buddhi or pure reason are all brought into alignment with the Lords of Karma in
a direct relationship and as signifying the ending of karma in the three
worlds, who can foretell the nature of the ensuing revelation? It is alignment
that holds the clue or the key to all these deeply spiritual events. (DINA II
348-349)
Let
me express for you here—in their briefest form—the four points of Revelation
already indicated, and then "in the Light" let us consider them as
suggested earlier.
1.
Energy follows thought and the eye directs the energy.
Involves the physical plane.
Relates to the first initiation.
Concerns the ajna centre and the so-called third eye.
2.
The will is an expression of the Law of Sacrifice.
Involves the astral plane.
Relates to the second initiation.
Concerns the heart centre, the "advancing point of
Light."
3.
The Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third eye is to man.
[Page
370]
Involves the mental plane.
Relates to the third initiation.
Concerns
the head centre, the light of Purpose. (DINA II 369-370)
Down
upon the level of daily living, disciples are today learning three things: the
Technique of Impression, the generating of energy, and the use of the ajna
centre. Many are responsive to impression, but fail to recognise or use the
energy of which the impression is simply the forerunner; others respond to the
energy, but fail to register the Plan which it is intended to implement, and
the energy then leads to great but fruitless activity. Still others are
learning to use the centre between the eyebrows, standing as silent and poised
recipients controlling the third
eye,
the directing agent of the received energy. It must be carefully borne in mind
that the energy to be used is not the energy which the disciple himself
generates or his own life force, but is something different, something which he
has received from the Hierarchy and of which he is simply the agent or channel.
He has therefore to learn to distinguish between the various energies he
contacts. (DINA II 374)
The
Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third eye is to man.
These
are mysterious words and can only be understood if brought into relation with
the previous revelation, involving the Will and the Law of Sacrifice. It should
be remembered that the Law of Sacrifice (in its destroying aspect) is dominant
during the second, the third and the fourth initiations. (DINA II 397)
The
location of this particular point of
revelation is on the mental plane; through the alignment of the concrete, lower
mind, the Son of Mind and the abstract mind, a direct channel for vision is
created. The medium of revelation at this initiation is the antahkarana, which
is rapidly being constructed and can thus prove the connecting link and the
esoteric mode of vision. The instrument of reception is the third eye which—for a
moment—is temporarily suspended from its task of directing energy upon the
physical plane and then becomes a stationary, receptive organ, turned inward
toward the higher light. The head centre is therefore involved, and a secondary
alignment takes place between the ajna centre, the head centre and the soul
body. All this takes place at a
You
will note, therefore, how this information—by pointing out the attitude of the third eye during this
initiatory process and its new function in relation to the Monad—throws fresh
light upon the work of the Monad. This third eye is now receptive to light from the
highest source, is arresting in its outward-going activity and functions like a
lens for the reflection of light and for the attaining of the highest possible
inner vision for the particular point in evolution reached. All this embodies
an activity which (except in the case of the highest initiates) remains very
mysterious. However, a study of the use of the third eye at the third initiation will bring
illumination of the teaching that the Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third eye (in its
initiatory function) is to the disciple of the third degree of initiation.
(DINA II 400)
The
Monad is the source of light, not only to the human family, but it is the
receiver of light from the threefold Sun; it is the lens through which the
light of the solar Logos can flow to the planetary Logos, preserving and
holding steady in that light the vision, the purpose, the will and the creative
intention of the planetary Logos.
More
along this line I may not convey to you. I can only give veiled suggestions and
formulate for you certain phrases or seed thoughts which (if duly considered
and reflected upon) will begin to train your perception and develop the third eye, enabling it
to reorient itself and change its function when the right time and the correct
emergency come.
I
have told you that these points of revelation are the germ or seed of a certain
invocative potency; this is especially true and correct where the teaching
anent the third
eye
is concerned. Initiation is not an abstract, mystical process to [Page 401]
which the disciple is subjected upon some one or other of the subtler planes,
the knowledge of which must gradually seep through into his consciousness. This
may be partially true of the first two initiations (the Sirian initiations of
the threshold), but all the remaining initiations involve the whole man and
"three periodical vehicles," producing a steady fusion of these
three, an increasing reaction to the Light of the World, and an ability to
register in the physical brain (if the initiate is functioning through karma,
decision or service in the physical body) that which is undergone; in this
registration process the third
eye
is acutely involved. From the time of the third initiation this third eye is subjected
to training and begins to function in the two following ways:
1.
It is (in a measure) a correspondence to the concrete mind, with its capacity
to interpret environment and experience.
2.
It can also act as a lens or a light-gatherer from the inner and higher worlds.
(DINA II 400-401)
It
will have become apparent to all occult students who have studied with care the
world processes in the light of the law of correspondences, that the Logos on
the cosmic planes is evolving inner cosmic vision, just as man in his lesser
degree is aiming at the same vision in the system. This might be called the development of the
cosmic third eye. In the physical plane structure of the eye
lies hid the secret and in its study may come some revelation of the mystery.
(IHS 189)
On
the surface, the expression "the eye which looks out from between the two
seems to signify the third
eye,
which clairvoyants utilise, but the meaning is very much deeper than that, and
lies hidden in the following facts:—
a.
That the inner vision is that which all self-conscious beings, from a Logos to
a man, are in the process of developing.
b.
That the Ego, or Higher Self, is literally to the Monad what the third eye is to man,
and therefore is described as looking out from between
the Monad or spiritual self on the one hand, and the personal self on the
other.
In
the fullest sense, therefore, this rule incites the applicant to develop
self-consciousness, and thus learn to function in the causal body on the higher
levels of the mental plane, controlling from thence all the lower vehicles and
seeing clearly all that can be seen in the three worlds, in the past and in the
future. (IHS 207)
It
is that clear apprehension of knowledge and a perfect comprehension of the
things of the soul which is characteristic of the man who—through concentration
and meditation—has achieved mind control.
The mind then becomes the window of the soul, and through it the
spiritual man can look out onto a new and higher realm of knowledge. Simultaneously with the development of this
type of vision, the pineal gland becomes active, and the third eye (in etheric
matter) develops with a paralleling activity. (LOTS 69)
6.
The third eye is in process
of unfoldment. Later, as the centres are
awakened and brought into conscious control, they place the man en rapport with
the various energy septenates in the seven planes of the system, and because
the truth-perceiving faculty is developed, the man is thereby safeguarded from error
and from danger. (LOTS 109)
The
light in the head increases in a corresponding degree and the third eye develops and
functions. On the astral and mental
plane a corresponding [Page 254] "eye" develops, and thus the ego or
soul can illumine all the three planes in the three worlds as well as the soul
realm. (LOTS 253-254)
In
studying these results of meditation in the psychic realm, it should be borne
in mind that the eight means of yoga do produce definite effects in the lower
nature and that this causes certain unfoldments and experiences to take place;
these put the aspirant more consciously en rapport with the interior planes in
the three worlds. This is a safe and
necessary process provided it is the outcome of the awakening of the man on his
own plane, and the turning of the eye of the soul, via the mind and the third eye, upon these
planes. The presence of the lower
psychic power may, however, mean that the soul is (from the physical plane
standpoint) asleep and unable to use its instrument, and
that these experiences are therefore only the result of the activity of the
solar plexus producing awareness of the astral plane. This type of psychism is a reversion to the animal state and to the
child stage of the human race. It is
undesirable and dangerous. (LOTS 258)
With
him, the intuition has been developed into a usable instrument, and direct
apprehension of all knowledge, independently of the reasoning faculty [Page
354] or rationalizing mind is his privilege and right. The mind need no longer be used to apprehend reality, the senses need no longer be employed as mediums of
contact. He will employ all six but in a
different manner. The mind will be
utilized as a transmitter to the brain of the wishes, and plans and purposes of
the one Master, the Christ within; the five senses will be transmitters of
different types of energy to the chosen objectives, and herein opens up a vast
field of study for the interested investigator.
The eye is one of the most potent transmitters of energy, and it was the
knowledge of this in the olden days which gave rise to the belief anent the
evil eye. There is much to be discovered
concerning sight for this study will include not only physical vision, but the
development of the third
eye,
clairvoyance, perfect spiritual vision and on up to that inconceivable mystery
covered by the terms the "All-seeing Eye" and the "Eye of
Shiva." The hands are potent
factors in all magical work of healing and utilization of the sense of touch is
an esoteric science. The sublimation of
the sense of hearing and its utilization to hear the Voice of the Silence, or
the music of the spheres, is a department of occult teaching of the most
profound kind and those adepts who have specialized in the science of sight,
and the science of sound are some of the most erudite and advanced in the
hierarchy. (LOTS 354)
It
is interesting here to note that as the brain and the mind became coordinated,
(as was first the case in Lemurian days) the sense of sight was simultaneously
developed. As evolution proceeds, a
higher coordination takes place, and the soul and the mind become at-oned. Then, that organ of subtle vision (the third eye) begins to
function, and instead of mind, brain, and two eyes, another triplicity
supersedes and we have soul, mind and the third eye.
The brain, therefore, is not the source of illumination but becomes
aware of the light of the soul and of what it reveals in the realm of the
soul. The third eye simultaneously develops and admits its
possessor into the secrets of the subtler realms in the three worlds, so that
the brain receives illumination, information and knowledge from two directions;
from the soul via the mind, and from the subtler planes in the three worlds via
the third eye. It should be remembered here that the third eye reveals
primarily the light to be found in the heart of every form of divine
manifestation. (LOTS 413)
It
has also been suggested that this gland regulates our susceptibility to light,
that it has a definite effect upon the sex nature, that it is related to brain
growth and that its active functioning [Page 42] causes intellectual precocity
as is clearly indicated in the historic case discussed below. This gland has
also been called the third
eye,
and the eye of the Cyclops. Beyond these facts or conjectures, investigators
frankly say they know nothing, and experiments have produced little
information. In the experiment of feeding pineal gland extract to children and
to defectives the response was nothing when the subject was over fifteen years
of age, and contradictory in all other cases, so deduction was impossible.
(SAIM 41-42)
The
secret of life lies hidden in the serpent stage,—not the life of the Spirit,
but the life of the soul, and this will be revealed as the "serpent of the
astral light" is truly approached, and duly studied. One of the four Lipika Lords, Who stand
nearest to our planetary Logos, is called "The Living Serpent," and
His emblem is a serpent of blue with one eye, in the form of a ruby, in its
head. Students who care to carry the
symbology a little further can connect this idea with the "eye of
Shiva" which sees and knows all, and records all, as [Page 894] does the
human eye in lesser degree; all is photographed upon the astral light, as the
human eye receives impressions upon the retina.
The same thought is frequently conveyed in the Christian Bible, in the
Hebrew and Christian recognition of the all-seeing eye of God. The application and value of the hints here
given may be apparent if the subject of the third eye is studied, and its relation to the
spine, and the spinal currents investigated.
This third
eye
is one of the objects of kundalinic vivification, and in the spinal territory
there is first the centre at the base of the spine, the home of the sleeping
fire. Next we have the triple channel
along which that fire will travel in due course of evolution, and finally we
find at the summit of the column, and surmounting all, that small organ called
the pineal gland, which when vivified causes the third eye to open, and the beauties of the
higher, subtler planes to stand revealed.
All this physico-psychical occurrence is
possible to man owing to certain events which happened to the Heavenly Serpent
in the second, or serpent, round. These
happenings necessitated the formation and evolution of that peculiar and
mysterious family we call the reptilian.
These forms of divine life are very intimately connected with the second
planetary scheme, being responsive to energy emanating from that scheme, and
reaching the earth via the second globe in the second chain. A group of special devas (connected with a
particular open sound in the planetary Word), work with the reptile evolution.
(TCF 893-894)
Man,
at present, is fully conscious, through some one or other of his senses, on the
three lower subplanes; it is intended that he shall be equally conscious on the
four higher. This has to be brought
about by the stimulation of the deva substance which composes his bodies. This will be accomplished through the dynamic
will of the transmitting devas as they energise the manipulatory devas, and
thus affect the myriads of lesser lives which compose man's body, and also by
an increased responsiveness of the indwelling man or thinker to the contact
made upon his body. This increased
awareness will be brought about by the arousing of the fifth spirilla, by the
unfolding of the fifth petal in the egoic lotus, and by the gradual opening of
the third eye through the
arousing and uniform activity of five factors:
the centre at the base of the spine, the three channels in the spinal
column, and the pineal gland. (TCF 907)
By
means of the pineal gland,89 [89: The
Pineal Gland. The Third eye.—S. D., III,
548} the organ of spiritual perception, man ascertains the will and purpose of
the Ego, and from thence he draws the necessary energy [Page 966] from the
higher levels, via the head centre and the sutratma.
By
means of the pituitary body, the second element of desire or of the
form-building energy, becomes available, and under the
law of attraction he can mould, and build in deva substance.
When
the alta major centre, the synthesis of what might be
called nervous energy, is awake, it becomes possible for him to materialise and
activate the desired form which, through attractive energy, he is in process of
constructing. (TCF 965-966)
Hence
the occult significance of all the processes occultly involved in sight, can be
seen. As long as the eye of the Creator
is upon that which is created, just so long does it persist; let the Creator
withdraw "the light of his countenance" and the death of the thought
form ensues, for vitality or energy follows the line of the eye. When, therefore, a man, in meditation,
considers his work and builds his thought form for service, he is occultly looking,
and consequently energising; he begins to use the third eye in its secondary aspect. The third or spiritual eye has several
functions. Amongst others, it is the
organ of illumination, the unveiled eye of the soul, through which light and
illumination comes into the mind, and thus the entire lower life becomes
irradiated. It is also the organ through
which pours the directing energy [Page 975] which streams out from the
conscious creating adept to the instruments of service, his thought-forms.
The
little evolved do not, of course, employ the third eye for the stimulating of their thought
forms. The energy used by them in the
majority of cases originates in the solar plexus, and works in two directions,
either via the organs of generation, or through the physical eyes. In many people these three points—the lower
organs, the solar plexus, and the physical eyes—form a triangle of force,
around which the stream of energy flows before going out to the objectivised
thought form. In the aspirant, and the
man who is intellectual, the triangle may be from the solar plexus, to the
throat centre and thence to the eyes.
Later, as the aspirant grows in knowledge and purity of motive, the
triangle of energy will have the heart for its lowest point instead of the
solar plexus, and the third
eye
will begin to do its work, though as yet very imperfectly.
Just
as long as the "Eye" is directed to the created form, the current of
force will be transmitted to it, and the more one-pointed the man may be the
more this energy will be centralised and effective. Much of the ineffectiveness of people is due
to the fact that their interests are not centralised but very diffuse, and no
one thing engrosses their attention.
They scatter their energy and are attempting to satisfy every wandering
desire, and to dabble in everything which comes their way. Therefore, no thought they think ever assumes
a proper form, or is ever duly energised.
They are consequently surrounded by a dense cloud of half-formed
disintegrating thought forms and clouds of partially energised matter in
process of dissolution. This produces
occultly a condition similar to the decay of a physical form, and is equally
unpleasant and unwholesome. It accounts
for much of the diseased condition of the human family at this time. (TCF
975-976)
In
contemplation, the inner eye is fixed upon the object of contemplation, and
this produces (unconsciously in most cases) a steady stream of energy which is
focussed upon the objective, producing vitalisation and activity. It is the basis of the "work of
transmutation," for instance, when the human substance is transmuted into
solar substance. The Ego contemplates
his lunar bodies, and gradually the work is accomplished. When his reflection, man, has reached a point
in evolution where he can meditate and contemplate,
the work is more rapidly accelerated, and transmutation proceeds with rapidity,
particularly on the physical plane. In
the work of thought-form building, the man, in contemplation, pursues the work
of energising and vitalising. It might
here be said that the eye is the great directing agency. When the third eye is used, which is the case in
contemplation, it is the synthesiser and director of triple energy; hence the
powerful work performed by those in whom it is functioning. The third eye only begins to function when the third
circle of egoic petals is beginning slowly to unfold.
If
students will study the effect of the human eye on the physical plane, and then
extend the concept to the work of the interior Thinker, as he utilises the third eye, they will
get an interesting light upon the subject of thought control. The old Commentary says:
"When
the eye is blind, the forms created revolve in circles and fulfill not the
law. When the eye is open, force streams
forth, direction is assured, fulfillment is certain, and the plans proceed
under law; the eye which is blue in color, and the eye which sees not red, when
open, produce that which is intended with great facility."
(TCF 1007)
b.
Five Rules for the Astral Plane. Before
we take up the consideration of the second set of "Rules for Magic,"
I would like to make a few remarks anent the "eye of the Magician,"
to which reference has been earlier made.
One of the fundamental rules back of all magical processes is that no
man is a magician or worker in white magic until the third eye is opened, or
in process of opening, for it is by means of that eye that the thought form is
energised, directed and controlled and the lesser builders or forces are swept
into any particular line of activity.
Among the coming discoveries, and among the next revelations of
materialistic science will be one which will concern itself with the
force-directing faculty of the human eye, alone or collectively, and this will
indicate one of the first stages towards the rediscovery of the third eye, or the
"Eye of Shiva." Shiva is, as
we know, one of the names for the first great logoic aspect, and under that
name is hidden much of esoteric moment.
Shiva stands for:
a. The Will aspect,
b.
The Spirit aspect,
c.
The Father in Heaven,
d.
The directing purpose,
e.
Conscious energy,
f.
Dynamic intent,
[Page
1009]
and in the consideration of these phrases the innate faculties
of the third eye will become
apparent.
The
"Eye of Shiva" in the human being has its position, as is already
known, in the centre of the forehead between the two physical
eyes.3
It
is not to be confounded with the pineal gland, which is distinctly a physical
centre or gland. The third eye exists in
etheric matter, and is an etheric centre of force, being made of the substance
of the ethers, whereas the pineal gland is formed of matter of the three lower
subplanes of the physical plane. The
latter, nevertheless, has to be functioning more or less before the "Eye
of Shiva" becomes in any degree active, and it is this fact that has led
writers of occult books in the past purposely to confound the two, in order to
protect the knowledge.
The
third eye is formed
through the activity of three factors:
First, through the direct impulse of the Ego on its own
plane. During the greater part of evolution the Ego
makes its contact with its reflection, physical plane man, through the centre
at the top of the head. When man is more
highly evolved, and is nearing or treading the Path, the indwelling Self takes
a more complete grasp of its lower vehicle, and descends to a point in the head
or brain which is found approximately in the centre of the forehead. This is its lowest contact. It is interesting here to note the correspondence
with the evolution of the senses. The
three major senses and the three first to demonstrate in order are, hearing,
touch, sight.
For the greater part of evolution, hearing is the guiding impulse of
human life through egoic contact with the top of the head. Later, when the Ego descends a little lower,
the etheric centre which is active in connection with the pituitary body, is
added, and man becomes responsive [Page 1010] to subtler and higher vibrations;
the occult correspondence to the physical sense of touch awakens. Finally, the third eye opens and the pineal gland
simultaneously begins to function. At
first, the sight is dim, and the gland is only partially responsive to
vibration, but gradually the eye opens fully, the gland is fully active, and we
have the "fully awakened" man.
When this is the case, the alta major centre
vibrates and then the three physical head centres are functioning.
Second,
through the co-ordinated activity of the major head centre, the many petalled lotus above the top of the head. This centre directly affects the pineal
gland, and the interplay of force behind the two (the correspondence, on a tiny
scale, of the pairs of opposites, spirit and matter), produces the great organ
of consciousness, the "Eye of Shiva."
It is the instrument of wisdom, and in these three centres of energy we
have the correspondence of the three aspects within the head of man.
1.
Major head centre...Will Aspect....Spirit...Father in
Heaven
2.
Pineal gland Love-Wisdom
aspect...Consciousness...Son
3.
Third eye. Activity aspect Matter...Mother
The
third eye is the
director of energy or force, and thus an instrument of the will or Spirit; it
is responsive only to that will as controlled by the Son-aspect, the revealer
of the love-wisdom nature of gods and man, and it is therefore the sign of the
white magician.
Third, the reflex action of the pineal gland itself. (TCF
1008-1010)
In
meditation, by the sounding of the word, the student awakens response in the
major head centre, causes reciprocal vibration between it and the physical head
centre, and gradually co-ordinates the forces in the head. Through the practice of the power of
visualisation, the third
eye
is developed. The forms visualised, and
the ideas and abstractions which are, in the process, mentally clothed and
vehicled, are pictured a few inches from the third eye.
It is the knowledge of this which causes the Eastern yogi to speak of
"concentration upon the tip of the nose." Behind this misleading phrase a great truth
is veiled. (TCF 1012)
Another
factor which must be allowed for in advanced stages of development,
is the third eye which is to
the occultist and true white magician what the fourth energy centre (the jewel
in the lotus) is to the lotus, or to the three tiers of petals. The correspondence is interesting:
The
jewel in the lotus is the director of energy from the monad, whilst the third eye directs the
energy of the Ego on the physical plane.
The
jewel in the Lotus is the centre of force which links [Page 1130] the buddhic
and mental planes. When it is to be seen
and felt, the man can function consciously on the buddhic plane. The third eye links the awakened physical plane man
with the astral or subjective world, and enables him to function consciously
there.
The
jewel, or diamond concealed by the egoic lotus, is the window of the Monad or
Spirit whereby he looks outward into the three worlds. The third eye is the window of the Ego or soul
functioning on the physical plane whereby he looks inward into the three
worlds.
The
jewel in the lotus is situated between manas and buddhi whilst the third eye is found
between the right and left eyes. (TCF 1029-1030)
Man,
when he reaches this stage, is a creator in mental matter of a calibre
different from the unconsciously working average man. He constructs in unison with the plan and the
divine Manasaputra, the Son of Mind, will turn his attention from being a Son
of Power in the three worlds and centre his attention in the Spiritual Triad,
thus recapitulating on a higher turn of the spiral, the work he earlier did as
man. This becomes possible when the
growth of the triangle just above dealt with (base of spine, alta
major centre and throat, as they unify in the head) is paralleled by another
triplicity, the solar plexus, the heart and the third eye; the energy merging through them is
similarly unified in the same head centre.
The third
eye
is an energy centre constructed by man; it is a correspondence to the energy
centre, the causal body, constructed by the Monad. The alta major
centre is similarly constructed by other streams of force and corresponds
interestingly to the triple form constructed by the ego in the three worlds.
(TCF 1160)
Saturn
is of interest to us here because the Logos of Saturn holds a position in the
body logoic similar to that held by the throat centre in the microcosm. Three centres towards the close of
manifestation will become aligned in the same way as the centre at the base of
the spine, the throat centre and the alta major
centre. Here it must be pointed out that
there are three planetary schemes which [Page 1164] hold a place analogous to
that held by the pineal gland, the pituitary body, and the alta major centre,
but they are not the schemes referred to as centres, or known to us as informed
by planetary Logoi. Certain of the
planetoids have their place here, and one scheme which has
passed out of activity, and is in a condition of quiescence and
nonactivity. This latter scheme is the
correspondence in the logoic body to the atrophied third eye in the fourth kingdom of nature. When man has developed etheric vision and
thus has expanded his range of vision, he will become aware of these facts, for
he will see. Many planetary schemes
which are found only in etheric matter will be revealed to his astonished gaze,
and he will find that (as in the body microcosmic) there are seven (or ten),
paramount centres but numbers of other centres for the purpose of energising
various organs. So likewise the body
macrocosmic has myriads of energy focal points or feeders which have their
place, their function, and their felt effects.
These centres, with no dense physical globe, constitute what has
sometimes been called "the inner round" and transmit their force
through those greater centres which have been spoken of in occult books as
having a connection with the inner round. (TCF 1163-1164)
[Page
1254]
1.
Cosmic vision. These adepts are
connected with the logoic third
eye.
2.
Deva hearing.
3.
Psychic correlation. (TCF 1254)
Within
the next few years the fact of persistence and of the eternity of existence
will have advanced out of the realm of questioning into the realm of
certainty. The problem will have shifted
further back. There will be no question
in anyone's mind that the discarding of the physical body will leave a man
still a conscious living entity. He will
be known to be perpetuating his existence in a realm lying behind the
physical. He will be known to be still
alive, awake and aware. This fact will
be demonstrated in several ways. The
development of a power within the physical eye of a human being (a power which
has always been there, but which has been very little used) will reveal the
etheric body, the "double," as it is sometimes called; and men [Page
184] will be seen occupying that body in some definite spatial area whilst
their dead or disintegrating physical body has been left behind. Then again, the growth in the number of those
people who have the power to use the "single eye," sometimes called
the "reawakened third
eye,"
will also add to the demonstration of the truth of immortality, for they will
with facility see the man who has discarded his etheric body as well as his
physical body. By the very weight of
their numbers, and by the reputability of their position, they will carry their
point. Through a discovery also in the
field of photography, now being investigated, will the fact of survival be proven. Through the
use of the radio by those who have passed over will communication be eventually
set up, and reduced to a true science. (EP I 183-184)
The
mineral kingdom is governed astrologically by Taurus, and there is a symbolic
relation between the "eye" in the head of the Bull, the third eye, the light in
the head, and the diamond. The
consciousness of the Buddha has been called the "diamond-eye." (EP I
230)
In
Taurus—Desire is transmuted into aspiration, darkness gives place to light and
illumination, the eye of the Bull is opened which is the spiritual third eye, or the
"single eye" of the New Testament. "If thine eye be
single," said the Christ, "thy whole body shall be full of
light." This single eye takes the place of the two eyes of the personal
self. The attention of the man becomes focussed upon spiritual attainment. He
treads the Path of Discipleship. [Fulfillment and satiety].
(EA 143)
Let
me pause a moment here to point out that in this study of the Triangles it is
not possible for us to do more than study certain of the major groups of
triangles and a few of the most important triangles where humanity itself is
concerned. It is of value for human beings to realise that there are other
evolutions and other forms of logoic expression of equal importance to their
own. There is, in truth, a veritable multiplicity of triangles. For the
triangle is the basic geometric form of all manifestation and it is to be seen
(by those who have eyes to see) underlying the entire fabric of manifestation,
whether it is the manifestation of a solar system, the manifestation of the
zodiacal round, the cosmic triplicities or the tiny reflection of this divine
triple whole which we call man. When the human being is manifest but is not yet
truly manifested, the triangles which symbolise this manifestation are the two
eyes and the third
eye:
1.
The right eye—the eye of buddhi, of wisdom and of vision.
2.
The left eye—the eye of mind, of the commonsense and of sight.
[Page
430]
3.
The eye of Shiva—the all-seeing eye, the eye which directs the will and
purposes of Deity. (EA 429-430)
b.
Mercury brings in that quick and intuitive mind which interprets experience,
fosters the growth of the intuition and relates the inner spiritual man to the
outer human being in such a way that their future unity of purpose, plan and
effort is assured. Mercury brings about those changes in mental perception
which eventually enable humanity to act as the mediating interpreter between
the higher worlds and the three lower kingdoms in nature; thus Mercury
institutes the threefold activity of this centre in the body of the Heavenly
Man which we struggle to perceive and comprehend, and which we regard as
forming the three phases of the mind:
1.
The abstract mind—pure manas.
2.
The Son of Mind—soul, manasaputra.
3.
The concrete mind—mental body.
and their correspondences in substance-energy:
1.
The right eye.
2.
The left eye.
3.
The third eye. (EA 436)
The
art of the healer is concerned with the lifting of the downward focussed eyes
unto the soul, the Healer within the form.
The spiritual or third
eye
then directs the healing force, and all is well. (EH 120)
Disease,
both physical and psychological, has its roots in the good, the beautiful and
the true. It is but a distorted
rejection of divine possibilities. The
thwarted soul, seeking full expression of some divine characteristic or inner spiritual
reality, produces within the substance of its sheaths a point of friction. Upon this point the eyes of the personality
are focussed, and this leads to disease.
The art of the healer is concerned with the lifting of the downward
focussed eyes unto the soul, the Healer within the form. The spiritual or third eye then directs the healing force, and
all is well. (EH 134)
The
Third eye the head centre Will. Atma.
The eye of the Father, the Monad. SHAMBALLA.
The first aspect of will or power and purpose.
Related to the pineal gland.
The
Right Eye the ajna centre Love. Buddhi.
The eye of the Son, the Soul. HIERARCHY.
The second aspect of love-wisdom.
Related to the pituitary body.
The Left Eye the
throat centre Active Intelligence.
The eye of the Mother, the personality. HUMANITY.
The third aspect of intelligence.
Related to the carotid gland. (EH 148)
a.
The throat centre is ruled by Saturn just as the two head centres are ruled
respectively by Uranus (ruling the head centre) and Mercury (ruling the ajna
centre). This is only where the disciple
is concerned; the rulership changes after the third initiation or before the
first. These three planets constitute a
most interesting triangle of forces and in the following triplicities and their
inevitable inter-relations you have—again only in the case of disciples—a most
amazing picture story or symbol of the ninefold of initiation:
1. The head centre
The ajna centre
The throat centre
2. The third eye
The right eye
The left eye
3. The pineal gland
The pituitary body
The carotid gland
thus presenting the mechanism through which the Spiritual Triad,
the soul and the personality work. [Page 152] The key to a right understanding
of process lies in the relation of the three planets: Uranus, Mercury and Saturn, as they pour
their energies through these nine "points of spiritual contact" upon
the physical plane into the "grounded sphere of light and power which is
the man in time and space." (EH 151-152)
Those
diseases which are loosely called mental diseases, and which are related to the
brain, are little understood as yet.
There was very little mental trouble in the last rootrace, the
Atlantean; the mind nature was then quiescent and little stimulation was
conveyed through mental [Page 200] levels via the head centre to the pineal
gland and the brain. There was very
little eye trouble either, and no nasal difficulties,
for the ajna centre was unawakened and the third eye rapidly becoming inactive. The ajna centre is the organ of the
integrated personality, the instrument of direction, and is closely related to
the pituitary body and the two eyes, as well as to all the frontal areas of the
head. In Atlantean days, personality
integration was largely unknown, except in the case of disciples and initiates,
and the goal of the initiate then, and the sign of his achievement, was this
triple integration. Today, the goal is
that of a still higher fusion—that of the soul and personality. Speaking in terms of energy, this involves
the formation, activity and related interplay of the following triangles of
force:
I.
1. The soul, the spiritual man on his own plane.
2.
The personality, the threefold integrated man in the three worlds.
3.
The head centre.
II.
1. The head centre, the point of the second fusion.
2.
The ajna centre, the point of the first fusion.
3.
The centre in the medulla oblongata, controlling the spine.
III.
1. The pineal gland, the externalisation of the head centre.
2.
The pituitary body, related to the ajna centre.
3.
The carotid gland, the externalisation of the third head centre. (EH 199-200)
b.
The growth of the number of people who have the power to use the
"reawakened third
eye"
will demonstrate immortality, for they will with facility see the [Page 413]
man who has discarded his etheric body as well as his physical body. (EH
412-413)
6.
Power to direct soul energy to the necessary area. "The spiritual or the third eye then directs
the healing force." This
presupposes a scientific technique on the healer's part and the right
functioning of the mechanism of received and directed force within the head.
(EH 525)
Disease,
both physical and psychological, has its roots in the good, the beautiful, and
the true. It is but a distorted
rejection of divine possibilities. The
thwarted soul, seeking full expression of some divine characteristic or inner
spiritual reality, produces, within the substance of its sheaths, a point of
friction. Upon this Point the eyes of
the personality are focussed and this leads to disease. The art of the healer is concerned with the
lifting of the downward focussed eyes unto the soul, the true Healer within the
form. The spiritual or third eye then directs
the healing force and all is well. (EH 533)
Disease,
both Physical and Psychological, has its roots in the good, the beautiful, and
the true. It is but a distorted
reflection of divine possibilities. The
thwarted soul, seeking full expression of some divine characteristic or inner
spiritual reality, produces—within the substance of its sheaths—a point of
friction. Upon this point the eyes of
the personality are focussed, and this leads to disease. The art of the healer is concerned with the
lifting of the downward focussed eyes unto the soul, the true Healer within the
form. The spiritual or third eye then directs
the healing force, and all is well. (EH 564)
It
might be of interest to you to correlate what I have said in my other writing
anent the eyes with the point made above.
As you well know, and as stated in The Secret Doctrine, the right eye is
the "eye of buddhi" and the left eye is the "eye of
manas"—this (when in relation to buddhi) referring to the higher mind and
to man as he finally will appear. In the
average human being, and before reaching perfection, the right eye transmits
the energy of the astral body when directed consciously towards an object of
attention, and the left eye directs the energy of the lower mind. In between
these two directing eyes is to be found the ajna centre, which is like a third eye or directing
agent for the blended and fused energies of the personality; related to this third eye as it awakens
and comes into functioning activity is what we call "the eye of the
soul"; this is a point within the highest head centre. This eye of the soul can and does transmit
energy to the ajna centre and is itself the agent (before the fourth
initiation) of the energy of the Spiritual Triad. This esoteric relationship is
only set up when the soul is dominating its instrument, the personality, and is
bringing all the lower activities upon the physical plane under soul direction.
In
the perfected man, there is to be found, therefore, the following distributors
or distributing agents of energy:
1.
The eye of the soul agent of
the Spiritual Triad Will.
2.
The third eye agent
of the soul Love.
3.
The right eye distributor of buddhic energy.
4.
The left eye conveyor of pure manasic energy.
5.
The ajna centre focussing and directing point for
all these energies. (EH 571)
In
the disciple and the man who is beginning to function as a soul, you will have:
1.
The third eye distributor of soul energy.
2.
The right eye agent for astral
energy.
3.
The left eye agent for lower
mental energy.
4.
The ajna centre focussing point of
these three energies.
In
the average man, the situation will be as follows:
1.
The right eye agent for astral
energy.
2.
The left eye agent for mental
energy.
3.
The ajna centre distributing station.
As
occult knowledge increases a whole science of energy distribution will be built
up around the eyes and their symbolic function, and their esoteric use will be
understood. The time has not yet arrived
for this, though already the power of the human eye when focussed on a person,
for instance, is known to attract attention.
One hint I can give you: the
optic nerve is a symbol of the antahkarana, and the entire structure of the eye
ball is one of the most beautiful symbols of the threefold deity and the
threefold man. (EH 572)
5.
The third eye then directs
the healing force, and all is well.
The
third eye referred to
here is that of the healer and not that of the average patient; this the healer
uses in conjunction with the eye of the soul.
In the case of the healing of a very advanced person who is consciously
able to cooperate, the third
eye
of the patient can also be active, and by this means two very potent streams of
directed energy can penetrate into the area where the point of friction is
located. In ordinary cases, however, and
where no occult knowledge is present on the part of the patient, the healer
does all the work, and this is desirable.
The cooperation of the unskilled and those emotionally involved in their
trouble is of no true assistance. (EH 575)
3.
The use of the "eye." This is
not in reality the third
eye
(which is after all only a symbolic phrase), but the [Page 228] ability to use
developed soul power. This is that
intermediate potency found between the power of the mind and the dynamic
electric energy of pure will. (R&I 227-228)
The
centre between the eyebrows, commonly called the third eye has a unique and peculiar
function. As I have pointed out
elsewhere, students must not confound the pineal gland with the third eye. They are related, but not the same. In The Secret Doctrine they are apparently
[Page 213] regarded as the same, and the casual reader can easily confound them
but they are by no means identical. This
H. P. B. knew, but the apparent confusion was permitted until more of the
etheric nature of forms was known. The third eye manifests as
a result of the vibratory interaction between the forces of the soul, working
through the pineal gland, and the forces of the personality, working through
the pituitary body. These negative and
positive forces interact, and when potent enough produce the light in the
head. Just as the physical eye came into
being in response to the light of the sun so the spiritual eye equally comes
into being in response to the light of the spiritual sun. As the aspirant develops he becomes aware of
the light. I refer to the light in all
forms, veiled by all sheaths and expressions of the divine life, and not just
to the light within the aspirant himself.
As his awareness of this light increases so does the apparatus of vision
develop, and the mechanism whereby he can see things in the spiritual light
comes into being in the etheric body. (TWM 2120213)
By
means of the third
eye
the soul accomplishes three activities:
1.
It is the eye of vision. By its means,
the spiritual man sees behind the forms of all aspects of divine
expression. He becomes aware of the
light of the world, and contacts the soul within all forms. Just as the physical eye registers forms, so
does the spiritual eye register the illumination within those forms which
"illumination" indicates a specific state of being. It opens up the world of radiance.
2.
It is the controlling factor of the magical work. All white magical work is carried forward
with a definitely constructive purpose, made possible through the use of the
intelligent will. In other words, the
soul knows the [Page 214] plan, and when the alignment is right and the
attitude correct, the will aspect of the divine man can function and bring
about results in the three worlds. The
organ used is the third
eye. The analogy to this can be seen in the often
noticed power of the human eye as it controls other human beings and animals by
a look, and through steady gazing can act
magnetically. Force flows through the
focused human eye. Force flows through
the focused third
eye.
3.
It has a destructive aspect and the energy flowing through the third eye can have a
disintegrating and destroying effect. It
can, through its focused attention, directed by the intelligent will, drive out
physical matter. It is the agent of the
soul in the purificatory work.
It
should be noted here that in each of the subtle bodies in the three worlds
there is a corresponding point of focus, and the centre between the eyebrows is
but the physical counterpart (for etheric matter is physical) of inner correspondences.
Through
this point of focus the soul looks out upon, or contemplates the mental plane,
including the mental mechanism.
Similarly on the emotional plane, the soul is brought into a state of
awareness or vision of its emotional sheath and the world of astral phenomena,
and the physical parallel exists for the etheric body.
It
is this third work of the soul that is touched upon here, the destructive work
of getting rid of the old forms, of shaking out of the bodies matter of an
undesirable nature and of breaking down the barriers and limitations to true
soul activity.
These
three activities of the soul, through the medium of the third eye, are the
correspondences to the three aspects, and students would find it of interest to
work these out.
The
seeing of the light within all forms through the agency of the third eye (brought into
being through the realization of the light in the head, the spiritual light) is
[Page 215] but the correspondence to the physical eye, revealing forms in the
light of the physical sun. This
corresponds to the personality.
The
aspect of control through magnetic energy and the attractive force in the
spiritual eye, which is the dominant factor in magical work, is the
correspondence to the soul. In a most
mysterious sense, the soul is the eye of the monad, enabling the monad, which
is pure Being, to work, to contact, to know, and to
see.
The
aspect of destruction is the correspondence to the monad or will aspect; in the
last analysis it is the monad that brings about the final abstraction, destroys
all forms, withdraws itself from manifestation and ends the cycle of creative
work.
Bringing
these concepts down to practical expression in relation to the Rule under
consideration, it can be noted that all these three activities are dealt with
in this Rule. The third eye opens as the
result of conscious development, right alignment and the inflow of soul
life. Then its magnetic controlling
force makes itself felt, controlling the lives of the lower bodies, driving
forth the lower four elementals (of earth, water, fire, air) and forcing the
lunar lords to abdicate. The
personality, which has hitherto been the master, no longer can control, and the
soul comes into full domination in the three worlds. (TWM 214-215)
Bringing
these concepts down to practical expression in relation to the Rule under
consideration, it can be noted that all these three activities are dealt with
in this Rule. The third eye opens as the
result of conscious development, right alignment and the inflow of soul
life. Then its magnetic controlling
force makes itself felt, controlling the lives of the lower bodies, driving
forth the lower four elementals (of earth, water, fire, air) and forcing the
lunar lords to abdicate. The
personality, which has hitherto been the master, no longer can control, and the
soul comes into full domination in the three worlds.
The
elemental of earth, who is the sum total of the many lives which form the
physical body, is controlled and feels the eye of the Master (the one Master in
the head) upon it. The gross elements
constituting that body are "driven forth" and better and more
adequate atoms or lives are built in.
The
elemental of the astral or body of water undergoes a similar activity plus a
stabilising effect which brings to an end the restlessness and fluidic
tempestuousness which have hitherto characterised it. Through the controlling magnetic power of the
spiritual eye, the soul [Page 216] rebuilds the astral body and holds it steady
and coherent through its focused attention.
Again,
an analogous process goes forward in the mental body. Old forms disappear before the clear light in
which the spiritual man is working and as the Old Commentary puts it:
"One
glance the soul doth cast upon the forms of mind. A ray of light streams out and darkness
disappears; distortions and evil forms fade out, and all the little fires die
out; the lesser lights are no more seen.
"The
eye through light awakens into life the needed modes of Being. To the disciple this will carry
knowledge. To the ignorant no sense is
seen for a sense lacks."
The
elemental of the air symbolically understood is that substratum of energy which
works through the forms of the etheric body, which is dealt with through the
breath, and handled through the science of pranayama. This elemental form is the intricate etheric
structure, the nadis and centres, and all advanced students know well how these
are controlled by the focused attention of the soul in contemplation, acting
through the head centre, focused in the region of the third eye and swept
into right and specific activity by an act of the will. In the above sentence I have concentrated the
formula for all magical work on the physical plane. It is through the etheric body and the force,
directed through one or other of the centres, that the
soul carries on the work in magic.
It
is through the intense focusing of intention in the head and the turning of the
attention through the third
eye
towards the centre to be used that the force finds its correct outlet. That force is made potent by the energising,
directed intelligent will. Study these
points, for in them you will find the clue to the magical work in your own life
reconstruction, to the magical work of human reconstruction which certain adepts
are carrying on, and to the magical work of the evolution of the divine plan
which is the motivating power of the occult Hierarchy. (TWM 215-216)
By
the exercise of the two main weapons of the aspirant, discrimination and
dispassion, he gains that quality which is called in this rule "the vital
power". Just as the eye is the
instrument of choice in choosing the way of travel on the physical plane and
has besides a potency all its own whereby it attracts and develops its [Page
230] own sign language, so a vital power is felt in the aspirant. This eventually brings the third eye into
activity, and so there is gained a potency and a clear
vision which make right choice and quick progress upon the way a steady
progression. We are told that power is
grown or developed in silence, and only he who can
find a centre of peace within his head, where the paths of the bodily forces
and the spiritual inflowing tides meet, can rightly practice true
discrimination and that dispassion which bring the controlled astral and mental
bodies under the guidance of the soul. (TWM 229-230)